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Mechanotransduction, the biological response to mechanical stress, is often initiated by the activation of mechanosensitive (MS) proteins upon mechanically induced deformations of the cell membrane. A current challenge to fully understand…
The hygro-mechanical behavior of a hierarchical cellular material, i.e. growth rings of softwood is investigated using a two-scale micro-mechanics model based on a computational homogenization technique. The lower scale considers the…
Asymmetries and anisotropies are widespread in biological systems, including in the structure and dynamics of cilia and eukaryotic flagella. These microscopic, hair-like appendages exhibit asymmetric beating patterns that break…
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), such as amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), beta-amyloid (A\b{eta}), and {\alpha}-synuclein are linked to the insurgence of type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's diseases, respectively. Common…
The elastic properties of two-component bilayer membranes are studied using a coarse grain model for amphiphilic molecules. The two species of amphiphiles considered here differ only in their length. Molecular Dynamics simulations are…
Macroscopic properties of suspensions, such as those composed of globular particles (e.g., colloidal or macromolecular), can be tuned by controlling the equilibrium aggregation of the particles. We examine how aggregation -- and, hence,…
The shear strength of cohesionless granular materials is generally attributed to the compactness or anisotropy of their microstructure. An open issue is how such compact or anisotropic microstructures, and thus the shear strength, depend on…
Pattern formation and the mechanics of a mixture of actin filaments and myosin motors that is confined by a rigid membrane is investigated. By using a coarse-grained molecular dynamics model, we demonstrate that the competition between the…
The role of particle shape in self-assembly processes is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, particle shape and particle elongation are often considered the most fundamental determinants of soft matter structure formation. On the other…
Active filaments are a workhorse for propulsion and actuation across biology, soft robotics and mechanical metamaterials. However, artificial active rods suffer from limited robustness and adaptivity because they rely on external control,…
The self-assembly of particles into organized structures is a key feature of living organisms and a major engineering challenge. While it may proceed through the binding of perfectly matched, puzzle-pieces-like particles, many other…
Suspensions of Active Brownian Particles (ABP) undergo motility induced phase separation (MIPS) over a wide range of mean density and activity strength [1], even in the absence of an explicit attraction. Negative values of the mechanical…
Understanding the mechanism of protein secondary structure formation is an essential part of protein-folding puzzle. Here we describe a simple model for the formation of the $\beta$-hairpin, motivated by the fact that folding of a…
We demonstrate that internal pivot-like defects, arising from rigor mutant motor proteins that bind without stepping, fundamentally reshape the dynamics of semiflexible filaments in two-dimensional motility assays. Using large-scale…
The bulk dynamics of dense granular materials arise through a combination of particle-scale and mesoscale effects. Theoretical and numerical studies have shown that collective effects are created by particle-scale anisotropic structures…
Bone is a multiscale heterogeneous materiel of which principal function is to support the body structure and to resist mechanical loading and fractures. Bone strength does not depend only on the quantity and quality of bone which is…
The Protein Data Bank (PDB) today contains more than 153,000 entries with the 3-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules. Using the rich resources of this repository, it is possible identifying subsets with specific, interesting…
Prevention of protein aggregation and thus stabilization of proteins has large biological and biotechnological implications. Here, we show that inhibition of amyloid-like aggregates is possible in stoichiometric conjugates of polymer…
The elastic properties of a self-assembled bilayer membrane are studied using the self-consistent field theory, applied to a model system composed of flexible amphiphilic chains dissolved in hydrophilic polymeric solvents. Examining the…
Collagen is a key structural protein in the human body, which undergoes mineralization during the formation of hard tissues. Earlier studies have described the mechanical behavior of bone at different scales highlighting material features…